The Wild Unknown Tarot Guidebook

by Kim Krans

From the beloved artist-seeker behind The Wild Unknown comes the bestselling Animal Spirit tarot deck and guidebook—now in a compact, pocket-sized format.

Hand drawn in the same dramatic, emotionally evocative style of The Wild Unknown Tarot, The Wild Unknown Pocket Animal Spirit Deck features 63 gorgeous cards, packaged in a perfectly portable keepsake tin. Divided into five suits structured by the five yogic elements that make up all living things — Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether, you’ll find creatures that roam the field and forest, swim in the oceans and rivers, inhabit deserts and grasslands and soar through the sky. The Ether suit holds the seven spirit cards, and represent the seven chakras of the subtle body. The powerful animal archetypes from realms both natural and mystical of The Animal Spirit Pocket Tarot offer insight into relationships, personalities, behaviors and tendencies and can be used alone or alongside The Wild Unknown Tarot to add an additional layer of depth to readings.

From the Peacock who symbolizes inner beauty and reminds us to practice self-acceptance to the playful Dolphin who indicates a profound blessing is headed our way, each animal has been carefully selected for its symbolic potency and the lesson at the core of its nature. The 200-page hand-lettered, fully illustrated guidebook offers grounded, easy to understand explanations of the cards and a detailed look at the many spreads, practices and concepts that power the Animal Spirit deck, as well as deep insight into how each animal helps illuminate our contradictions, our complex natures, and the endless mystery of who we are. A powerful tool for self-exploration, The Wild Unknown Pocket Animal Spirit Deck is the highly anticipated next chapter for fans of The Wild Unknown Tarot Deck and Guidebook who want deepen their practice and keep the beautiful mystery of the animal kingdom at their fingertips. A work of art packaged in a highly designed keepsake tin to treasure for a lifetime, The Wild Unknown Pocket Animal Spirit Deck celebrates the hidden wisdom of the creatures that inhabit our world and beyond, and reveals how we are all connected in the complex and wondrous web of life.

Package includes:


 Keepsake Tin

63 Full-Color Tarot Cards
Illustrated 200-Page Guidebook

Genres: Tarot, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Reference, Witchcraft, Magic, Divination

200 pages, Paperback

About the author

Kim Krans is an artist, author, and the creator of The New York Times bestseller, The Wild Unknown Tarot. Her publications include ABC Dream, 123 Dream, Hello Sacred Life, and the Animal Spirit Deck and Guidebook. Along with husband and collaborator Arjan Miranda, Kim curates The Wild Unknown, an arts collective offering publications, artwork, music, and events that activate the forces of creativity and radical transformation.

Her work has been featured in The New York Times, New York Magazine, NYLON, Teen Vogue, Design*Sponge, and Marie Claire. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Find more of Kim's artwork, creations, and other modern tools for self-reflection through her website, www.thewildunknown.com.

Reviews

[Laurie (barksbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This deck is gorgeous but if you don't have a background in tarot you may be a little lost. The booklet is a bit bare-bones. I love books that allow the artist to express their intent and maybe give you a little history on the deck with some sketches and such like they did with The Fey Tarot. This one doesn't really do that and I wouldn't recommend it as a starter deck or a gift for a newbie. Grab yourself a Rider-Waite deck, a good tarot beginners book and then let your intuition guide you with a beautiful deck like this one.

If have purchased this deck and are having a struggle, reader Carrie Mallon provides her own in-depth interpretation of each card. You can see all of her posts here.

Deck: 5 stars
Guide: 2.5 stars
Rounding up to 4

[Holly Westendorf · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the deck. The illustrations are so beautiful. The cards themselves are durable and made out of quality card stock. I would give the deck 5 stars. However, the book that comes with it is next to useless. It gives vague, sugarcoated fluff about the meanings of the cards. Each description for the cards are about less than half a page. This is very disappointing because the book itself is beautifully made with quality materials. I wish the artist had explained why she chose to use the imagery that she did, expanded on each meaning of the card, and went into reversals. I would recommend this deck for people who already have some knowledge of tarot. For beginners, I would still recommend the deck, but I would also recommend they gather other tarot books and sources to use along side this.

[Ricky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cards are fantastic, but the book itself is a bit light on content. It's an attractive, if small, book. The meanings are kind of stripped down in a way that is useful, but I also feel like the meanings here are a bit watered down. Almost like she's trying to make it slightly too user friendly. Anyway, like I said, the cards are lovely, and they feel great in my hands. I guess all I would say is that I understand why the book costs $20, but in my mind it's probably worth about half of that.

Which reminds me, I love that the combination bar code/Made in China stickers are so easy to remove. I think it's unfortunate when people put copyright lines on tarot cards, and she's done that here, but at least these stickers come off and there's no bar code left. I guess the whole reason I prefer to buy self-published tarot decks is that I like them to feel less like a commodity and more like a labor of love, which this ultimately does.

[Claudia Loureiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always wanted this book and the card deck. I now own both. I couldn't be happier. Lovely!

[jessica ☾ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a simple but lovely beginners guide to basic tarot and their meanings. Perfect for someone just getting started without being too overwhelmed!

[Jes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great beginner book and deck for those wanting to learn.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the cards! This is my first tarot book so I think I needed a little more info. I definitely want to keep learning but I may need to invest in another book.

[Jean-Pierre Vidrine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like any Tarot guidebook, and any Tarot deck, the big takeaway here is a different perspective on the cards and their meanings. Some of the definitions here are not so different from what I'm used to, while others are quite startling and have me either thinking deeply or scratching my head. Particularly surprising were those definitions that went along with the "this card represents a X person with X hair and complexion" type meanings, something I've always eschewed, and they seemed out of place in describing a deck that doesn't even have any human figures in its art.
The book itself is designed and printed in a way that makes it look like handwritten personal notes. Whether it was the creator's intention or not, this gives me the feeling I'm reading first impressions of the deck, with the implication that there will be further nuanced meanings to come with practice and greater familiarity with the cards.
The deck itself is beautiful, with art that is deceptively simple. The style conveys a feeling of primal energy, almost as if the cards were a sort of proto-Tarot developed before ideas of royalty and pageantry seeped into the general consciousness. This idea made the renaming of the Court cards into Daughter, Son, Mother, and Father easier to grasp for me.
Overall, the deck and its guidebook feel exactly like the name: wild and unknown. I feel like I'm getting back to nature, not far away from the cave. I don't know what I'm getting into, but I relish in exploring the unknown.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful intro to get me started! I'll definitely want to read more to get a wider view of tarot but this was very aesthetically pleasing, answered a lot of my initial questions, and will be helpful to reference until I've found my footing. My only criticism is that it is very specific to this particular tarot deck and reflects the way the author hopes new readers will interact with the deck even where it is clear there are other interpretations not being explained (eg reverse cards are noted, the author says they're not necessary to readings, and moves on without explaining what these are or why others find them useful).

[Regan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Realized I never did put this on my "read" list - although that's a bit of a fudge, considering that you read some of it first, then the rest as you pull cards. Either way, adding it now, just to keep track. Whee.

[Sophia Corvere · Rating 5 out of 5]

This deck called to me and i am in love

[Dany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to start understanding the tarot, comes with an explanation for each card in the tarot deck and it explains what are the major and minor arcanas and the wands, swords, cups and pentacles all separately. Oh and of course the court cards and how each fits into their respective families and how each family is tied to an element and how this can interact with factors in your life.
It also cl es with a section on teaching you how to shuffle and how to draw different readings.
I’ve already said it but it’s great to start, it does not go into so much detail that you will confuse but enough for you to get to know each card well enough to interpret your reads.

[Krista Fournier · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly this is one of my favorite decks of all time, with that said I think the book was poorly written. I don’t recommend it for a beginner in any type of capacity. It’s just too simplistic of a guidebook. I wish she would expand more on the definitions because she only writes a paragraph or two for each card and I don’t think it’s anywhere near enough. Stunning artwork though and I use it on a regular basis with my clients.

[Anie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The deck is, of course, beyond lovely. 5 billion stars for the deck, but that's not what I'm rating here.

The guidebook is middle of the road for me. It's very stripped down; plenty of room to make your own meanings, for sure, and the cards are so amazing that it's easy to supply those meanings. It doesn't provide a lot of discussion, though, and I'm not a fan of the somewhat advising tone; I find tarot useful for exploration beyond advice, so it's jarring to look at this guidebook with that sort of spread. Generally, though, I like the book.

[Mae Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this deck as an art deck, but as a functional tarot deck, the images do not speak to me. No meanings intuitively present themselves. I wind up comparing Kim Krans’ images with the traditional Rider Waite images in my head, and then I try to reconcile those images with the ones I see in front of me in this deck. That’s no way to develop a relationship with a deck. That said, I can enjoy readings with the book in hand. But I cannot do a reading using this deck without the book to explain the imagery. It just doesn’t click with me, other than how beautiful it is as art for art’s sake, and a truly personal, original take on the Tarot system. I highly recommend this deck to anyone as a wonderful addition to your collection. I also have a dear friend who uses this as her main deck, because the imagery really does speak to her on a deep, intuitive level. I will likely buy anything Kim Krans publishes because her voice in the text and her visual sensibilities on the cards are so completely unique and entrancing. She is a rare tarot artist and author who goes her own way, without toeing the traditional Rider-Waite, Marseilles, Visconti-Sforza, or Thoth lines. She invented her own boundaries with this ground-breaking deck. Though I don’t read clients with it, I will never tire of looking at this deck, or looking up her meanings to explain the imagery she uses. It is an approach that is wholly her own.

[Ângela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the imagery of this deck to death but there are definitely a few things to point out about it that could use improvement.

I bought this as my first tarot deck but couldn't work with it for a couple of reasons:
1) The booklet has a very bare-bones explanation, it could definitely use a bit more information especially for beginners. This is definitely targeted towards people that already have some tarot use/study background.
2) There was nothing on the selling description of it indicating what type of tarot this is. This is a Marseille tarot deck and I only realized this once I decided to get another deck to study, which was a RWS and I noticed the position of the Strenght and Justice cards were mixed up. Maybe I saw this wrong but they could really use a warning... ;
3) Not very beginner-friendly in general. The lack of information on the booklet, the lack of indication on the type of deck along with the sometimes confusing imagery makes this hard to work with if you're just starting.

I'd recommend you get the deck if you like the artwork and would like to have it as a collection piece- it is definitely worth it for that - and to use if you are somewhat experienced in tarot reading.

[Sian Lile-Pastore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this to go with my lovely Wild unkown tarot set. And yeah, it doesn't have loads of stuff in it but there's enough info on each card to do readings and is also an inspiration for discovering more.
Really cute little book and the illustrations are beautiful

[Ashley Chew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book, beautiful deck.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it - love it

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful deck. I sat down at a local favorite bar (a nerd bar, adorned with Doctor Who, comic book stuff, and usually filled with MTG players) and just looked at each card one after another. I like the black and white drawings. Most are gorgeous to me, worthy of framing. There's only two cards I don't really like all much. One is the Father of Pentacles, because I think it looks more like a jackalope than a species of deer (would've loved to have seen an elk here). The other card is the Magician with the cheetah. I would've loved to have seen a different cat, say a mountain puma, or lynx, or bobcat. The cheetah is a bit exotic for me. But I get it. But saying all this, this is like going into a forest filled with beauty and saying that two leaves were not your favorites. Very, very minor.

I really appreciated the work and design of the companion book. It has such a beautiful look and feel to it. While some handwriting looks tired, or gets old fast, this was artistic. I liked how the book is void of fluff. There aren't pages and pages of what other books put in. Nope. Just the needed elements and that's it. The book is simple to get into and get out.

When I sat down and looked at the cards, I tried to get a feel of the meanings of them based off the imagery. Didn't quite hit home with me. But when I then went through and read each card in the book, the meanings leapt out at me. I love the sparse nature of them. Like the Nine of Wands. The long stair case. The drudgery. The weariness. Yet anyone who's run a marathon knows the positive side of this as well. There is much, much room for personal reading in these cards.

I'm very happy I've bought them.

[Amanda Marr · Rating 4 out of 5]

First I loved it. Then I dosliked it. Then I liked it again.

When you are learning the deck i think it's just enough to not overwhelm you. Then i started to think it was a little too "making every card positive and empowering." Then I went back to loving it.

I did not buy it seperate, it came with my edition.

I think that the guidebook provides enough for the reader to do her own work. Enough to kickstart a journal or a meditation or a deeper examination.

I feel like the wild unknown is a very personal deck. That you need to study it more *inside yourself* than through external explanations.

There is a blogger who wrote an in depth blog on each of these cards. Many people love this blog. But you can do the same thing. Let the book be a springboard to your own inner work. To me, that's really what "the wild unknown" means. You explore the tarot & the tarot explores you.

That's my opinion. If you use the book to explain the cards to you in depth, this book is 1-2 stars. If you use this book as a springboard to explore the cards and yourself, as an opening to explore the cards personally, then the book is 4 stars. It depends on what you want. For me this is a deck that calls me to discover it, not have it all explained for me. The keywords and the short blurbs are just enough to make that possible.

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a lovely tarot deck with vibrant illustrations. The artist created the pack in a way that can relate to anyone that decides to pick up the deck. The cards also shuffle easily and do not stick together, so the user should not have an issue with the practical side of this deck. However, if a beginner chooses this deck, they may have some issues, mostly with the book. Tarot can be interpreted however the creator chooses, but some of the explanations of the cards are a bit biased and focused on what the author specifically sees them as. This can confuse a beginner because tarot is intended for the user to be able to interpret the cards with their own meaning. The book also does not go into great detail about each card, which can make this seem like a difficult process to a beginner. The creativity and inspiration of the deck is what makes the cards quite astounding. But it is recommended to beginner with a Rider-Waite version of cards and a more detailed book before diving into a deeper and more complicated deck. The cards are great for beginners but the book is not. The set all together does work well for someone that has had experience reading Tarot.

[Edie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It turns out I did not actually read this one, but rather the pocket version. Regardless, the entire reason for the review is to record for posterity my hilarious mistake. I was reading along and got to the foot card. I paused. Could not remember a foot card as part of tarot. Read the description and it rather fit but still, I just knew something wasn't quite right. I got out the card itself to look at. And finally realized it was The Fool, not The Foot. Due to the handwritten font, I had misread the guidebook. Interestingly, my other tarot deck (Antique Anatomy Tarot Kit: A Deck and Guidebook for the Modern Reader) uses a foot for The Fool card. And now I will always associate The Fool with a foot and my interpretations will include that understanding. As for the deck itself, I know it is trendy but it is also intuitive and I find it evocative. Beginner-friendly.

[Margaret McCauley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never written a review before, but I felt I had to when I received my cards. I fell in love with this deck when I saw it online a few years ago, and was delighted to see it had a mass-market version. I was a little bit wary, however, due to some of the comments. Well, I just opened my deck and I am in love! I checked and everything is perfect! Everything is really well packaged and the cards are amazing! I think the card stock is great - it most definitely isn't too thin or flimsy as some people have said; in fact, another deck I have has thinner card stock and I've had no problems with them.

The illustrations themselves are beautiful - although I knew that already from having seen them online, they are stunning in real life!

All in all, it is a beautiful, well-presented set.

[Brittany Darr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty tarot deck, but the book that comes with is has minimal information. It's a great starter book but it doesn't even mention how to read upside down cards, but not every person acknowledges those in their readings. If you're the type of person who doesn't mess with the inverted meanings of the cards then this would be a good set for you. The deck itself speaks to me and I get very accurate readings, but I rarely use the book for definitions because other sources have so much more information.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first ever tarot deck, and absolutely perfect for me.

Beaaautiful cards that I still am in awe of years later, that are still simple and are very easy to look at.

A lovely little guide comes with these cards explaining the meaning of each card, along with a few spreads to try out (but of course, you can use your own meanings/spreads).

A good, sturdy box and cover to keep your cards and guide safe and in good condition.

Will always be my favourite deck!

They've recently also brought out a minature version of this deck which is so cute and portable.

[Yolanda Sfetsos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This happens to be a tarot deck that I forgot I had. 👀 I vaguely remember picking it up at a bookstore pre-Covid, but I'm not sure where. I think it might've been in the city, and it could've been on special... but I'm not sure.

Either way, I'm glad I have it because these cards are beautiful. I love these illustrations! They're lovely, and the guidebook is helpful enough. I also like the way the deck is packaged.

I love how many of these decks I'm adding to my collection (after temporarily forgetting I owned them). ☺️

[Danielle Miceli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The descriptions of each card are gorgeous (as are the cards themselves) and the book is extremely welcoming and encouraging to tarot beginners. I only wish there was more to it; I would have liked if the author went beyond the rudimentary and taught some more in-depth strategies and readings, but I understand the simple and accessible vibe she seems to be going for. None-the-less I enjoyed reading this guide, and will just have to look for something more complex to follow it up with.

[Mariah]

Fun and pretty tarot deck. The guidebook as many others have mentioned gives minimal information. I would recommend this deck to intermediate tarot or any beginner tarot reader alongside another deck. I enjoy using this deck often in readings, however I normally work with reverse meanings and this deck advises against that (nothing wrong with that), just different ways to read the cards. This deck has a very upbeat tone.

[Marijana☕✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 zvezdica za karte koje su prelepe, ali od knjige sam očekivala više u smislu instrukcija za mešanje i otvaranje karti, ali i samih objašnjenja značenja. Pošto su karte apstraktnije od običnih tarota, bilo bi lepo da je autorka objasnila zašto se odlučila za određene motive i životinje jer bi tako upotpunila značenje, ali mi se u suštini dopada što sami treba da otkrijemo i povežemo.